JPH0744692A - Method for filing still picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method for efficiently performing the automatic filing operation while using a small capacity memory for the picture memory at the side of camera in the case the FC (Frame Capture) cameara is used to file the still picture to the host side as the picture data with the high resolution. CONSTITUTION:A CCD image pickup part 5 of an FC camera part 2 is placed opposite to a slide projector 1 and a shift control part 11 shifts the CCD image pickup part 5. Thus, the one slide film is read as the picture data of one frame. In this case, An R/W control part 10 saves the picture data obtained by the scanning of each shift in a picture memory 9. Before starting the next scanning, the data are read out and sent to a host computer 4 by a communication I/F 13. Whenever one film is read, a slide projector 1 is controlled to set the next film.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a still image filing method, and is applied to a slide film filing system or the like, and image data of a still image is automatically filed to an optical disk or the like using a small capacity buffer memory. Regarding the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in museums and public facilities, a program has been implemented in which high-definition images of high-definition images are used to display works of art and municipal events as high-definition still images. In order to produce a program, a system for filing still images as high-resolution image data is required. Generally, a method of recording a color scanner or a still image camera type scanner on an optical disc as an image input device is adopted. ing.

Also in the field of photomechanical technology, it is necessary to file original image information as high-resolution image data in the process of preparing a block copy, in which case filing with extremely high resolution is required. From F
A C (Frame Capture) camera is often used as an image input device.

This FC camera is similar to the electronic still camera and the above-mentioned still image camera type scanner in the basic principle of A / D converting the image signal obtained from the CCD image pickup unit and processing it. It is characterized in that one frame of image data is obtained by scanning a still image a plurality of times while shifting the image pickup unit by a predetermined pitch by utilizing the configuration of independent pixels. That is, it becomes possible to capture a still image of one frame with the number of pixels of (the number of effective pixels of the image pickup unit × the number of shift scans of the image pickup unit). If it is increased, still image data with extremely high resolution can be obtained.

In any of the above still image filing systems, the image data for one frame taken by the camera is temporarily stored in the built-in frame memory, and the data is read and transferred to the host computer. A method of filing on an optical disc or the like is adopted.

[0006]

By the way, in filing still images, there are many cases in which a large number of film images taken by the silver halide photography method must be recorded as digital image data. For example, when creating a program to be held in an art museum or public facility as described above, or when filing a huge number of radiographs taken in a hospital, this is the case, and still images are converted into high-resolution digital image data. As a result, the need for filing will increase more and more.

The FC camera can obtain extremely high resolution while using an image pickup section having a relatively small number of effective pixels, and the resolution can be freely changed. In order to file an image having the above as more precise image data, it is optimal to employ an FC camera as an image input device.

However, when an image is taken with an FC camera,
Depending on the selection of the resolution, an enormous amount of data of 10 to 46 Mbytes may be required, and in order to cover a high resolution, a very large frame memory must be built in, and the system circuit scale is naturally large. As a result, it becomes difficult to reduce the size, and the cost increases. Incidentally, in the case of a general electronic still camera, the image data of one frame is approximately 0.15 Mbytes, and in the case of a high-definition still image captured by a still image camera type scanner, it is approximately 6 Mbytes.

[0009] Recently, it is often the case that photographs of photographs or radiographs are recorded as slide films and the projected images are viewed and inspected using a projector. However, when the number of slide films becomes huge, It takes a lot of time and labor for filing work.

Therefore, the present invention provides a method for automatically filing a still image as high-resolution image data using an FC camera, while using a built-in memory having a small capacity, to the host computer side. It was created for the purpose of realizing a compact and inexpensive still image filing system and improving the efficiency of filing work.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in a still image filing method, an image pickup unit that decomposes and scans an image into N pixels and photoelectrically converts the image, and the image pickup unit in a vertical direction and / or at a predetermined pitch. Shifting means for laterally shifting, signal processing means for performing a predetermined process on the image signal obtained from the image pickup means, and A / D converter for A / D converting the image signal processed by the signal processing means. A storage unit for storing image data of N pixels; an R / W control unit for accessing the storage unit to control writing and reading of the A / D-converted image data; Data transfer means for transferring the image data to the host computer side, the imaging means scans a still image and N pixels of image data are written in the storage means, and then the imaging means. Before scanning of the still image is set to the next shift position is started, the read image data to which the R / W control unit is written in the storage means,
The procedure of transferring the image data to the host computer side by the data transfer means is repeated, and the image data obtained by decomposing one frame of a still image into (N × the number of shifts of the image pickup means) pixels is data on the host computer side. The present invention relates to a still image filing method characterized by storing in a storage means.

Further, the image pickup means are arranged to face each other in the optical axis direction of the slide projector, and the slide projector is controlled every time image data of one frame of still image is transferred to the host computer side. If a control means for setting the slide film is provided, a still image filing method linked with the slide projector can be realized.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the still image data obtained by scanning the still image by the image pickup means every time the shift means shifts the image pickup means and dividing one frame into (N × the number of shifts of the image pickup means) pixels. To get Then, the image data of the N pixels read in each scanning is temporarily stored in the storage means and transferred to the host computer side before the next scanning is started.

Access to the storage means is executed by the R / W control means. As described above, since the image data divided for each scan is written to the storage means and transferred to the host computer side by the data transfer means, The storage capacity of the storage means is sufficient as long as it can store image data of N pixels. Further, scanning of a still image and transfer of image data by the scanning can be automatically executed.

Further, if a slide projector or the like is used as a method of projecting a still image on the image pickup means, and the control means controls the slide projector every time filing of one frame of still image data is completed,
It is possible to continuously and efficiently file still images on a large number of slide films.

[0016]

Embodiments of the "still image filing method" of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
Shows a system circuit diagram of an image filing system using a slide projector.
And an FC camera unit 2 facing the light projection optical axis with its incident axis aligned, an interface (I / F) 3 connecting the slide projector 1 and the FC camera unit 2, and an optical disk device 4a. It is composed of a host computer 4.

The FC camera unit 2 receives the CCD image pickup unit 5 having a basic effective pixel number (horizontal direction: 246 × vertical direction: 576) and a scan image signal obtained from the CCD image pickup unit 5 before. A preprocessing circuit 6 for performing processing (amplification, white balance correction, γ correction, etc.), an A / D converter 7 for converting the preprocessed signal into a digital signal, and a predetermined value for the A / D converted image data. A digital signal processing circuit 8 for processing, an image memory (SRAM) 9 having a storage capacity of 426 kbytes,
An R / W control unit 10 that controls writing and reading of image data by accessing the image memory 9, a shift control unit 11 that shifts the CCD image pickup unit 5 at a predetermined pitch, and a CCD image pickup unit
5. Preprocessing circuit 6. A / D converter 7. Digital signal processing circuit
A drive circuit 12 that controls the drive of 8 and a communication I / F 13 that communicates with the host computer 4 side and transfers image data.
And a microcomputer circuit 14, the microcomputer circuit 14 executes system control of the FC camera 2 based on an instruction from the host computer 4, and also controls the slide projector 1 via the I / F 3. It is supposed to do. It should be noted that the digital signal processing circuit 8 is not necessary when processing the digital signal on the host computer 4 side.

Here, the CCD image pickup unit 5 of the FC camera unit 2
Reads the image data by dividing and scanning a still image that is symmetrical with respect to the image pickup in the procedure as shown in FIG. For example, (a) in FIG.
As shown in, when the image of "A" is included in a part of the still image, and these are decomposed into the respective pixels in FIG.
At the initial setting position of the CCD image pickup unit 5, the signals of the pixels aligned in each arrow direction (charge vertical transfer direction) of FIG. 2B are transferred and output, and the next horizontal shift position (shifted by one pixel) Then, the signals of the pixels aligned in the directions of the arrows in (c) of FIG. 2 are transferred and output, and the signals of the pixels aligned in the directions of the arrows of (d) of FIG. 2 are transferred and output at the next horizontal shift position. Then, the entire still image is constructed by the three scans. Therefore, in this case, the CCD image pickup unit 5 is horizontally shifted three times for scanning, and the effective pixel number is (738
It is possible to read still images with a resolution of × 576).

Further, as the resolution mode of the FC camera unit 2 of this embodiment, the shift of the CCD image pickup unit 5 is performed as described above.
The number of effective pixels set to [Horizontal direction: 3 times × Vertical direction: 1 time] is (7
Other than 36 x 576 modes, [Horizontal direction: 6 times x vertical direction: 2 times] mode with (1472 x 1152) effective pixels, [Horizontal direction: 9 times x Vertical direction: 3 times] The high resolution mode of the mode with [2208 × 1728] effective pixels and the mode with [4416 × 3456] effective pixels [horizontal direction: 18 times × vertical direction: 6 times] It can be set to. The shift pitch of the CCD image pickup unit 5 is set small corresponding to the number of scanning in the horizontal / vertical directions. For example, the horizontal shift pitch in modes ,, is (1 / 2)
It is set to double, (1/3) times, (1/6) times, and the vertical mode is also based on the vertical shift pitch of the mode.
, Are set to (2/3) times and (1/3) times.

Next, the still image filing procedure by the system of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a magazine storing a large number of slide films to be filed is set in the slide projector 1, and a resolution mode is designated and input from the keyboard on the host computer 4 side (F1, F2). still,
Here, it is assumed that the resolution mode in which the total number of scans is So times is designated from the above resolution modes.

Then, when the host computer 4 side gives an instruction to start the filing (F3), the specified data of the resolution mode and the start command are transferred to the FC camera section 2 side, while the FC camera section 2 sends it. Although received via the communication I / F 13, the microcomputer circuit 14 sets the image reading program (stored in the built-in ROM) based on the designated data to start the reading operation of the slide film.

At the start of the reading operation, the microcomputer circuit 14 outputs a control signal to the slide projector 1 via the I / F 3, and the slide projector 1 sets the first slide film, The image is projected on the CCD image pickup unit 5 of the FC camera unit 2 (F4, F5).
Here, the microcomputer circuit 14 sets the CCD image pickup unit 5 to the initial position by the shift control unit 11, and in that state, the CCD image pickup unit 5, the preprocessing circuit 6, the A / D converter 7, and the digital signal processing by the drive circuit 12. The circuit 8 is activated to start the first image scanning (F6, F7).

The image signal obtained from the CCD image pickup section 5 is subjected to (pre-processing)-> (A / D conversion)-> (predetermined signal processing). The digital image data after the processing is microcomputer circuit. It is written in the image memory 9 by the R / W control unit 10 activated by 14 (F7, F8). The data amount of the image data in this case is the basic effective pixel number of the CCD image pickup unit 5 (246
X576), and the signals of three colors (R, G, B) for one pixel are represented by 1 byte, respectively, so a total of about 42
This corresponds to 5 kbytes, and the microcomputer circuit 14 adds search data and the like in advance, but since the image memory 9 is 426 kbytes, it has a sufficient storage capacity.

When the image data based on the first scan is saved in the image memory 9, the microcomputer circuit 14 which detects it saves the image data transmission request command to the host computer 4 side through the communication I / F 13. Send (F8, F9).
Further, at that time, the microcomputer circuit 14 stops the drive state of the CCD image pickup unit 5 via the drive circuit 12. And
When there is an affirmative response command from the host computer 4 side via the communication I / F 13, the microcomputer circuit 14 that detects it
Activates the R / W control unit 10 to read the image data saved in the image memory 9, and the read I / F 13 transmits the read image data to the host computer 4 by the communication I / F 13.
Send to the side (F10, F11).

When the transfer of the image data is completed, the microcomputer circuit 14 which has detected the transfer of the image data activates the shift control unit 11 to activate the C
Set the CD imaging unit 5 to the next shift position (F12, F13 → F
14). After the shift, the microcomputer circuit 14 activates the CCD image pickup unit 5 via the drive circuit 12 to start the second image scanning (F15 → F7).

Thereafter, while scanning the CCD image pickup section 5 under the shift condition corresponding to the resolution mode which has been designated and input, the scanning of the image and the transfer of the image data using the image memory 9 as the buffer memory are repeated. When the image data relating to the So scanning image scanning set as the shift condition and the final scanning is completed, the filing of the image data relating to the first slide film is completed (F7 ~ Repeat F15 → F13). For example,
If the resolution mode is specified, the CCD image pickup unit
5 is shifted vertically 3 times, but each time it is controlled to shift horizontally 9 times, the image data obtained at each shift position is transferred to the host computer 4 side, and the first slide is moved. Complete the filing of the film. On the other hand, on the side of the host computer 4 that has received the transfer of the image data, the image data transferred together with the search data added by the microcomputer circuit 14 is written and recorded on the optical disk by the optical disk device 4a.

Next, when the filing relating to the first slide film is completed by the above procedure, the microcomputer circuit 14 outputs a control signal to the slide projector 1 via the I / F 3 again so that the slide projector 1 can be operated. Set the second slide film and project the image of that film on the CCD image pickup unit 5 of the FC camera unit 2 (F16
→ F17 → F5). Then, after that, by repeatedly executing the above-mentioned steps [F5 to F17] for all the slide films stored in the magazine set in the slide projector 1, all the slide films are added while the search data is added. Host computer for the image data
It is possible to automatically file to the optical disc on the 4th side. In addition, when checking and editing the filed image, it is possible to specify the search data from the keyboard on the host computer 4 side and simply display the image data read from the optical disk by the optical disk device 4a. When the image is displayed as it is, it can be reproduced by using a separately provided high-resolution display device (not shown).

By the way, when the resolution mode ,,, is set, the image data amount of one slide film is about 1.3 Mbytes, 5.1 Mbytes, 1 respectively.
The amount of data is 1.5 Mbytes and 46 Mbytes, and in the high resolution mode, the amount of data is much larger than that of high definition images. However, regarding the usage of the image memory 9 by the system of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the image data for each divided scan is saved in units of 425 kbytes, and the host computer is started before the next divided scan is started. Since the image data is transferred to the 4th side, the storage capacity of the image memory 9 can be extremely small as compared with the case where a recording medium is used. In this embodiment, the case where the digital signal processing unit 8 of the FC camera 2 does not perform data compression has been described. However, if the data compression is performed, the capacity of the image memory 9 can be further reduced. In addition, since the image of each slide film is automatically configured as one frame of image data on the host computer 4 side, the filing operator does not need much labor.

Further, the data transfer I / F from the FC camera unit 2 to the host computer 4 side is set to SCSI (Small Computation).
er System Interface) 1 (MB /
It is possible to realize a transfer rate of 10 seconds or more), and the writing of image data for one scan to the image memory 9 can be executed in about 0.3 seconds. Even in this case, one slide film can be filed in about 73 seconds.

In this embodiment, the case where the FC camera unit 2 and the host computer 4 are one-to-one has been described.
Bus type LA as typified by Ethernet
It is also possible to transfer the image data from the FC camera unit 2 to the host computer 4 via N (Local Area Network). In that case, a plurality of FC camera units 2 arranged in the premises can be used. A network system capable of efficiently filing image data while sharing the host computer 4 can be constructed.

[0031]

The still image filing method of the present invention has the following effects due to the above configuration. According to the invention of claim 1, when the still image is filed as high resolution image data by using the FC camera, the FC camera divides and transfers the image data of the still image while shifting the image pickup unit at a predetermined pitch. However, by providing a built-in memory with a small capacity, a method for filing image data to the host computer side is provided, and a small and inexpensive still image filing system is realized. According to the invention of claim 2, by linking the FC camera unit and the slide projector, it is possible to automatically file the image data of a large number of slide films, and the labor and time required for the filing are greatly reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system circuit diagram of an image filing system to which a “still image filing method” of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an image data transfer procedure in a CCD image pickup unit of an FC camera unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a filing procedure for a still image (slide film).

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing usage of an image memory.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Slide projector, 2 ... FC camera part, 3 ... I /
F, 4 ... Host computer, 4a ... Optical disk device (data storage means), 5 ... CCD image pickup section (imaging means), 6 ... Preprocessing circuit (signal processing means), 7 ... A / D converter, 8 ... Digital signal Processing circuit, 9 ... Image memory (storage means), 10 ... R / W
Control section (R / W control means), 11 ... Shift control section (shift means), 12 ... Drive circuit, 13 ... Communication I / F (data transfer means), 14 ... Microcomputer circuit (corresponding to procedure execution and control means) ).

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A still image filing method, comprising:
An image pickup unit that decomposes and scans an image into N pixels and performs photoelectric conversion, a shift unit that shifts the image pickup unit in a vertical direction and / or a horizontal direction at a predetermined pitch, and an image signal obtained from the image pickup unit. The signal processing means for performing a predetermined process, the A / D converter for A / D converting the image signal processed by the signal processing means, the storage means for storing the image data of N pixels, and the storage means are accessed. And R / W control means for controlling writing and reading of the A / D converted image data, and data transfer means for transferring the image data read from the storage means to the host computer side.
After the image pickup means scans the still image and the image data of N pixels is written in the storage means, before the image pickup means is set to the next shift position and the scanning of the still image is started. , The R / W control means reads the image data written in the storage means, and transfers the image data to the host computer side by the data transfer means, repeating one frame of a still image (N × A method for filing a still image, characterized in that the image data decomposed into the number of pixels of the image pickup means) is stored in the data storage means on the host computer side. 2. The slide projector is arranged so as to face each other in the optical axis direction of the slide projector, and the slide projector is controlled each time image data of one frame of a still image is transferred to the host computer side, and the next slide film is controlled. The still image filing method according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit for setting.